Co-Director Emeritus, UNC Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders
Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Drossman received his M.D. degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and obtained his medical residency at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and NYU – Bellevue Medical Center. He subspecialized in psychosocial (psychosomatic) medicine at the University Of Rochester School Of Medicine and in Gastroenterology at the University of North Carolina. He is currently President of the Rome Foundation, the Drossman Center for Education and Practice of Biopsychosocial Care LLC and Drossman Gastroenterology PLLC

Dr. Drossman was on staff at the University Of North Carolina School Of Medicine since 1977. In 2011 he left UNC as Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, and since 2012 he is serving as Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry. Dr. Drossman was founder and co-director of the UNC Center for Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders (1993-2011) with William Whitehead, PhD. In that capacity, the co-directors built a very strong research and clinical program focusing on functional GI and motility disorders. The Center has been successful in receiving federal, pharmaceutical grants and contracts and has provided service to patients with complex functional GI and Motility difficulties. Since formally leaving UNC Dr. Drossman has maintained ties in providing educational programs and he serves on the Center’s Advisory Board.

Dr. Drossman was also founder, past chair (1989-1993) and newsletter editor of the Functional Brain-Gut Research Group of the AGA, Chair of the Rome Committees (Rome I, II, III and IV) and President of the Board of the Rome Foundation (since 2004), past Chair of the Functional GI American Digestive Health Foundation’s Digestive Health Initiative (1999-2001) and of the Motility and Nerve-Gut Section of the AGA Council (2003-2005). He is Past-President of the American Psychosomatic Society (1997), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a Master of the American College of Gastroenterology, and is on the Board of Directors and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Foundation for Functional GI Disorders (IFFGD). He has served on two committees of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Gulf War and Health, has been an Ad Hoc member of NIH- NCCAM Advisory board, and was a member of the NIH-National Commission on Digestive Diseases.

In 2012, Dr. Drossman founded the Drossman Center for the Education and Practice of Integrated, LLC care (drossmancenter.com) as an entity to help train physicians in relationship centered biopsychosocial care with emphasis on communication skills and enhancing the patient doctor relationship. He also began Drossman Gastroenterology PLLC (drossmangastroenterology.com) to provide specialized consultation and care for patients with difficult to diagnose and treat functional GI and Motility disorders.

Dr. Drossman also established Drossman Consulting, LLC to consult in the health care field with academic programs in medicine, psychiatry and digestive diseases, Federal (NIH) or pharmaceutical grants, serving as a mentor or consultant with gastrointestinal medical practices, pharmaceutical advisory boards, as well as with health care foundations, medico legal groups, and non-profit health care and educational and media companies.

Dr. Drossman has written over 500 articles and book chapters, has published two books, a GI Procedure Manual, and textbook of Functional GI disorders (Rome I, II, III), and serves on six editorial and advisory boards in Gastroenterology, psychosomatic medicine, behavioral medicine, and patient health. He served 5-years as Associate Editor of the journal Gastroenterology and was the Gastroenterology Section Editor of the Merck Manual for 17 years.

Dr. Drossman’s research has related to the clinical, epidemiological, psychosocial and treatment aspects of gastrointestinal disorders. He developed and validated several assessment measures (e.g., illness severity and quality of life questionnaires for IBD and IBS, and an abuse severity scale) for clinical research, is involved in psychosocial outcomes research, and has also studied brain imaging in IBS and abuse. He was principal investigator on several NIH sponsored research grants with over $15,000,000 in funding including a multi-center treatment trial (antidepressant and cognitive-behavioral treatment) of the functional bowel disorders. He also consults with regulatory and pharmaceutical agencies regarding the design and evaluation of treatment trials. He is a recipient of the Janssen Award for Clinical Research (1999), the American Psychosomatic Society President’s Award (2003), the AGA Joseph B. Kirsner – Fiterman Award in Clinical Research (2005) the AGA Mentors Research Scholar Award (2007) and has received several “Who’s Who”, “Patient Choice” and “Best Doctors” citations over the past 15 years.

His educational and clinical interests relate to the psychosocial and behavioral aspects of patient care. He has produced numerous articles and videotapes on the biopsychosocial aspects of medical care, medical interviewing and the patient-doctor relationship, and received second prize at the 1997 AMA International Film Festival. As a Charter Fellow of the American Academy of Communication in Health Care, he facilitates workshops to develop clinical skills in physician-patient communication. He received the AGA Distinguished Educator Award (2004), was identified as a “Best Gastroenterologist” in Men’s Health (2007) and in Woman’s Health (2008) and is featured as one of 12 gastroenterologists in a book “Best Gastroenterology Practices” (2007).